Your Voice Matters Most: Use August Recess to Engage Your Lawmakers

The Senate soon is expected to join House colleagues in returning home to their states and districts. These traditional August state and district work periods provide some of the most important opportunities to engage with policymakers.

While lawmakers spend much of their time in Washington debating legislation and policy proposals, it is often when they are back home and hearing from constituents firsthand that they gain their clearest understanding of how those decisions affect the people and communities they represent. That is why we always say the most important advocate for your hospitals or health system is you.

You live in your community. You work in your community. You vote in your community. And every day, you see firsthand the difference that hospitals and health systems make in the lives of patients and families. No one is better positioned to explain what is happening on the ground and why public policy matters.

Why the Senate Recess and House Recess Matter for Hospital Advocacy

Hospital and health system leaders have a powerful story to tell. So do physicians, nurses, caregivers, trustees, volunteers, patients and community leaders. Together, your voices help lawmakers understand the challenges hospitals face and the essential role they play in advancing health, supporting local economies and strengthening the fabric of their communities.

That engagement is especially important today.

Our field continues to navigate significant pressures while responding to growing demands for care. At the same time, policymakers are considering a range of proposals affecting healthcare affordability, transparency requirements, access to medications and the 340B Drug Pricing Program, and other critical issues. These debates can have real consequences for hospitals’ ability to provide services, invest in innovation and meet the needs of their communities.

The individuals making those decisions need to hear directly from the people who understand those realities best.

How to Make the Most of the Congressional Recess in Your Community

A visit to a hospital, a conversation with a hospital or health system board member, or a discussion with community leaders can often have the biggest impact with lawmakers. When they see firsthand the services a hospital provides, the professionals who deliver care and the patients who depend on it, policy becomes personal.

These conversations are not about politics. They are about people.

They are about ensuring that communities continue to have access to emergency care, behavioral health services, maternity care, trauma services and countless other programs that patients rely on every day. They are about helping elected officials understand the connection between public policy decisions and the health of the communities they serve.

The good news is that hospital leaders across the country have demonstrated time and again that grassroots advocacy works. When policymakers hear directly from trusted local voices, it informs their perspective and strengthens their ability to make decisions that support patients and communities.

AHA Tools to Help You Connect with Your Representatives and Senators during the August Recess

We’re fewer than 90 days away from the November midterms, a consequential election with control of the House and Senate very much up for grabs.

As Congress begins its August district work period and looks ahead to additional time in home districts later this year, please seize every opportunity to engage. Invite lawmakers to your hospital. Attend community events. Share your experiences. Tell your story and, most importantly, tell the story of the people you serve.

The AHA has resources available to help you prepare for these conversations and make the most of your engagement efforts. Members will receive an Action Alert with resources on some of our top issues, as well as a new toolkit with tips for maximizing interaction with your elected officials. The AHA’s We Care, We Vote webpage also contains resources for hospital leaders to prepare for the 2026 midterm election, including questions that they should ask every candidate to assess their understanding of hospitals and health systems as the heart of American healthcare.

But the most important resource remains your voice. At the end of the day, lawmakers want to hear from the people they represent. When hospital and health system leaders, trustees and community partners step forward to engage, they help ensure that the needs of patients and communities remain at the center of the policymaking process.

That is advocacy at its best. And it is one of the most important ways we can work together to protect access to care and advance health for all.